By Jacob Beltran, San Antonio Express
Sheriff Javier Salazar speaks to the press at the Bexar County Sheriff Office on January 3, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas about a case involving the sexual abuse and stabbing of a child. Photo: Carolyn Van Houten / Carolyn Van Houten / 2017 San Antonio Express-News
As soon as investigators and medical personnel examined the severe injures of a 1-year-old girl who was reportedly attacked by dogs, they immediately knew her injures didn’t match the story provided by her relative to authorities, said Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
The toddler, he said, suffered life-threatening injuries consistent with a brutal sexual assault. Police arrested two people in connection with the alleged incident, including the child’s relative, Crystal Herrera, and her boyfriend Isaac Andrew Cardenas. Cardenas, 23, was being held on a charge of super aggravated sexual assault. Bail was set at $300,000.
Herrera, 22, was determined to have been providing false information to keep detectives from finding out what occurred. She was booked in the Bexar County Jail on a charge of injury to a child by omission.
Sheriff Javier Salazar holds images of suspects Isaac Cardenas and Crystal Herrera during a press conference about a case involving the sexual abuse and stabbing of a child at the Bexar County Sheriff's Office on January 3, 2017 in San Antonio, Texas.
“I can’t even begin to describe to you the level of depravity that went into this crime,” Salazar said. “It’s a horrendous case.”
Police said Herrera called 911 at 9 a.m. on Dec. 31 saying that the girl had wandered out of their home in the middle of the night and was attacked by dogs at their South Bexar County home.
But as detectives spoke to her and her boyfriend, they noticed their stories didn’t add up, Salazar said. Later, Animal Care Services officers told police that the dogs they were sent to pick up showed no aggression.
Medical personnel examining the child’s injuries quickly determined that she had suffered life-threatening stab wounds. Authorities said the girl’s stab wounds, located on her upper body and private parts, were “non-accidental.”
“I’ve got seasoned detectives and emergency room personnel that have all agreed that this is one of the worst cases they’ve seen,” Salazar said during his first news conference since being sworn in as sheriff.
“This is one of those cases, I’ll be honest with you, it’s something that I haven’t even seen the pictures, I don’t want to see the pictures,” Salazar said. “It’s been described to me and just imagining it is enough to chill any of us.”
The child was transported to University Hospital where she was in stable condition Tuesday.
“You can't even imagine what would possess somebody to do something like this to anyone, much less an innocent child that’s totally defenseless,” Salazar said.
Salazar said detectives are looking into any history of abuse of the girl, who was to be taken into CPS custody.
“A child this small to suffer these types of injuries …she’s going to carry this with her for the rest of her life, physically, emotionally, and also as a family” he said. “It’s a heartbreaking case.”
With a loving family and support from child-care experts, she has a chance to lead a fairly normal life. But while I have no empirical proof, I believe that sexual abuse combined with physical and/or emotional abuse is exponentially worse than sexual abuse alone, and sexual abuse is devastating enough. The victim will still have some serious emotional trauma ahead when she learns what she has just endured. Please pray for this child, she has a long and difficult road ahead.
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